


If I Could Save You

by troshby



Category: You Me At Six
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-22 03:57:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2493533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/troshby/pseuds/troshby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan helps Josh get over his break up with James. This is their journey.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. part one

Ever since James passed, Josh has never been the same. He insisted that he was fine but everyone could see that he was not. Sleeping at the oddest hours of the day, increased drinking and smoking, and wanting to spend more time by himself were just a few of the signs that told his friends and bandmates that he wasn’t alright. He stopped calling any of them to hang out and showed up late to most of the things they had planned.

No one knew Josh was in an abusive relationship with James- though the bruises that appeared on Josh's neck made them suspicious sometimes. Even though James abused Josh mentally, physically, and sexually, the younger man still loved- or at least he thought he did- him. The young man was just tired of being alone. He felt that no one would ‘love’ him like James did. He was afraid that he was going to spend the rest of his life alone. He didn’t care for many things anymore- like his appearance, and his once favorite thing, food. He didn’t really care to look good for anything or anyone. He let his hair grow and his beard too- shaving it every two months or so. He also noticed that he wasn’t hungry often. And when he was hungry, he just drank. He drank until he felt he was going to pass out and called Dan.

The older man was always there when Josh needed him. He was there when he met James and, sadly, he was there when Josh found James’ lifeless body on their bed. He was there to comfort him every night the other called. Before Josh knew it, he had Dan falling for him. The older man felt a bit guilty about it. He didn’t want to feel like he was taking advantage of his best friend when he was down, it made him feel wrong. Still, loving Josh as more than a friend was something Dan couldn’t help but do.

This afternoon, as Dan was laying on his bed, he realized he couldn’t keep his feelings to himself. He had to tell someone about this, otherwise it’d eat him alive. He decided to call Max. He asked the older man to come over. The young man agreed and ended the call. Dan started pacing the floor. He ran a hand through his hair as he contemplated how to tell him that he loved Josh- as more than a friend.

Before he knew it, there was a knock at the downstairs door. He ran down the stairs and straightened himself up before opening the door. He tried to smile as he let Max in. The young man noticed this and asked Dan if everything was okay. Naturally, Dan said that he was okay. Max looked him in the eyes as he grabbed the man by his shoulders.

“I’ve known you for years,” Max said, trying to examine Dan’s gaze. “Don’t lie. Now, what’s wrong?”

“I-I just, god Max,” he replied, looking down at their shoes. “I like someone, okay? Someone I’m not supposed to like as more than a frie-”

“It’s Josh, isn’t it?”

“W-what? I didn’t even finish my sentence. H-how is it possible that you know?” Dan asked, getting out of Max’s grip and walking towards the kitchen.

Max followed him and sat on one of the chairs at the small table. Dan sat in front of him as he waited for the answers to his questions.

“Well,” he began. “Matt and I aren’t your type, Chris is too quiet for you plus he’s engaged, so that only leaves Josh.”

“Do you think he knows?”

“Oh yeah, he knows. I just think he’s still having a tough time with the whole James thing and doesn’t really realize it yet. The way you’ve gotten up at the oddest hours of the night just because he called you because he couldn’t sleep, the way you hold him, the way you fucking look at him. For fuck’s sake Dan, anyone with the ability to see can see that you’re head over heels for that guy.”

Dan blushed a bit, lowering his gaze to the table. The two friends talked for a while before Max said he had to go. Dan accompanied him to the door and waved him off. The young man sighed after he closed the door. He ran a hand through his hair before making his way upstairs, to his bedroom.

\-- -- --

The young man got into his car and sighed, he wasn’t so sure that this was the right thing to do. After the talk with Max and thorough examination of his conscience, he wasn’t so sure if his plan was in the best interest to Josh. He was still emotional after the passing of the love of his life and he didn’t want to put pressure on the younger man. He didn’t want Josh to think that he had to feel the same way, he wanted him to take his time and do whatever he wanted with Dan’s revelation.

He finally put the key in the ignition and started the car. He quickly buckled his seatbelt and backed out of his driveway. The young man made his way out of the street and into the open road. There seemed to be more cars out than usual but he didn’t mind, more cars meant more time to think and he was okay with that. He bit his lip as the image of Josh flashed in his head; he was so beautiful. The way his blue eyes lit up when he spoke about his favorite things- mainly spending time with James and writing new music. The way his lips curled up into a smile and his eyes crinkled at the corner when he laughed, the way he ran his hand through his hair right before they played their set- which was something that they hadn’t done in almost two years.

Dan finally arrived at Josh’s house- one he used to share with James. He got off his car, locking it after, and walked up Josh’s driveway, up to his doorstep. When he knocked, the door flew open He walked in and made sure he locked it after.

“Josh?” he called, looking for him in the living room and kitchen, which was visible from where he stood. “Josh, where are you?”

Since he didn’t hear anything, he decided to make his way up the stairs. He exhaled excitedly when he heard someone singing and water running.

“Is it the way that you talk that’s causing me to freak? Is it the way that you laugh that’s making my heart beat?” Josh sang, washing the shampoo out of his hair.

Dan walked in quietly and sat on the chair that was near the sink. He crossed his arms in front of him and decided to continue with Josh’s singing.

“Is it the way that you kiss? It’s gotta be the way you taste, you taste, you taste, you taste.” Dan sang, highly off key, earning a gasp from the younger man. “You’re such a gorgeous nightmare.”

“Dan!” Josh said, peeking his head from behind the curtain. “What are you doing here and how did I not hear you come in?”

“Well, because I am a master in disguise, plus I wanted to check up on you. Y-you haven’t called all day and I was beginning to get worried.”

“How is it that you know me better than I do? I was going to call you when I got out of the shower to see if you could go to James’ grave with me because you and I both know I won’t be able to drive after.”

“Of course.” Dan smiled. “Maybe we could go to dinner after, too?”

“That sounds great.” Josh replied, shutting the water off. “But I don’t really want to be out in public after that, maybe we could order Chinese take out and bring it here. Maybe you can spend the night?”

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.”

Josh stared at Dan, which made the older man blush a bit. He crossed his arms and squinted his eyes at him.

“Oh shit.” he laughed.

“Damn right,” Josh laughed back. “I was wondering how long it was going to take you to figure my message out.”

Dan got up and off the chair, turning around and walking out to Josh’s bedroom. Short after, he heard the door lock shut. He smiled as he sat on the bed, looking around the room. He sighed when he saw a picture of James hanging above Josh’s tv. He wondered if the younger man has even tried moving on from James- it had been two years.

Before he knew it, Josh was standing next to him, his hands on his hips. He cleared his throat to make sure Dan knew he was out. Josh offered his hand- for Dan to take- and the young man took it, standing up next to the man. They walked out of the room and down the stairs. Surprisingly enough, when the two made it outside, their hands were still together. They were that way until they got to the car. Josh let go of Dan’s hand and walked to his side of the car. The two got in the car and drove to the cemetery.

Dan could see the tears that began to well in Josh’s eyes. The younger man’s grip on the steering wheel visibly tightened. Once they reached the cemetery, Josh got out of the car, closing the door behind him. He waited for Dan to get out of the car, and when the older man did, he walked straight towards James’ grave. He was there within seconds, Dan following short after.

Josh stood in front of James’ grave, hands balled up to form fists by his sides. Tears rolled down his face as he fought back screams. He wanted to yell at the man for all the things he made him go through, all those nights alone he made him spend. Sure Josh loved James with all his heart, but now that he was gone, Josh realized how much James had really hurt him.

“You know, James, this is going to be the last time that I’ll visit you,” Josh began, making Dan raise an eyebrow. “You really were a piece of shit. I’m not glad you’re dead- because I loved you-, but I am glad that you’re no longer here to hurt me. You made me feel dirty, used, and worthless. I never really enjoyed our time together. In fact I loved when you went out drinking and probably fucked someone else because that meant you had nothing left for me.”

The young man stopped to take a breath. He wiped some stray tears off his face with the sleeve of his jacket. He, then, took out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of his left pocket. He took a cigarette out of the pack then put the pack itself back in his pocket. He put the slim, white stick up to his lips and lit it. He inhaled sharply, blew out the smoke, and continued to speak.

“I felt the need to throw up every time you ran your hands up my body. Sometimes when we used to have ‘sex’ I hoped that you’d tighten your hands around my throat so much that you’d choke me to death, just so that I wouldn’t have to feel the pit at my stomach when you left me dirty and hurt every night. I fucking hated you. You treated me like crap even though I gave you all I had and I gave you everything.”

Josh inhaled once more and tossed the cigarette down to the floor. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and pulled down the shirt he wore.

Dan’s eyebrows furrowed together, feeling sick. He would have never guessed that his best friend had been going through this. He felt a bit guilty that no one had noticed this. His heart dropped when he remembered the times when he had done nothing to help Josh, despite being suspicious that something was wrong. Dan just wanted to run to Josh and hug him with all his strength, as a small apology for not seeing what was really wrong with him. He was snapped out of his thoughts when the younger man began to yell.

“I still bare the scars you gave me.” Josh screamed at the top of his lungs. “I won’t allow another minute to pass of you holding on to my heart. I finally found someone who loves me and actually takes care of me. Someone who holds me when I cry and doesn’t just say to ‘get over it.’ I finally found the one. She is amazing and I love her.”

At the mention of a ‘she’, Dan’s face dropped a bit. He never would have guessed that Josh would have someone- especially a woman. After all, Dan was with Josh most of the time. He scratched his head as if trying to find an explanation on this sudden turn of events. He listened to Josh go on about how this woman was great and all.

“What you did was unforgivable.” Josh said before spitting on James’ grave and walking towards his car. “Dan are you coming or not?”

Dan shook his head and followed Josh. Dan stood on the driver’s side of the car whilst Josh stood on the passenger side. The younger man tossed the keys to the blonde man. He unlocked it before they got inside the car.

\-- -- --

“So, uhm, y-you never told me you uh that you had someone?” Dan asked, eyes focused on the road, hand switching on the right turn signal.

“Yeah, uhm, sorry about that.” Josh said, twirling his thumbs in his lap. “She doesn’t know how I feel about her yet. I plan to tell her soon though. I don’t mean to brag about her now, but she makes me really happy. It’s funny because she’s a blonde too. It seems like I always go for blondes. James was a blonde, so were my past ex’s, and now her too. I don’t know man, she just makes me feel something that I hadn’t had the chance to feel before.”

“That’s really great. I’m glad you’re having the chance to start someone new with someone else.” Dan replied as he turned the car into the parking space for the chinese restaurant. “As much as I love you being this happy talking about your new girl, we’re going to talk about everything I heard at the cemetery.”

Josh’s face fell a bit, he didn’t want to talk about all of the things James did to him. He didn’t want to talk about all the things he made him feel. But most importantly, he didn’t want to bring Dan down- the young man had already helped Josh enough.

“But Dan-”

“No but’s, I feel like this will be good for you. I want you to get this- whatever you didn’t scream out there- off your chest.” Dan said, turning to look at Josh. “I don’t want you to keep hurting like this. I can’t stand seeing my best friend like this.”

Josh smiled sadly before unbuckling his seat belt. Dan did the same short after. They got off the car, the older man locking it before they walked into the building. Dan walked up to the register to order. When he was done with his order, he turned to ask Josh what he wanted, he saw that he wasn’t behind him, but rather sat on a chair away from the register.

His head rested on his hands. Dan could tell that Josh was crying, so he ordered for him. After both orders were taken, the older man walked towards Josh. He sat next to him, slinging an arm over Josh’s shoulders and bringing him closer. The young man moved his face towards Dan’s arm, crying softly on it. Dan rubbed his friend’s back soothingly, trying to make him feel somewhat better.

\-- -- --

Dan watched Josh as he finished his dinner, smiling a bit because it seemed like Josh was beginning to eat normally again. Maybe that girl was having a positive impact on him after all.

Although Dan was a bit sad that he wasn’t going to have a chance to be with Josh, he was really happy that the younger man was finally starting to move on from James. Even more so now that he knew how James really treated Josh.

“Did you hear me Dan?” Josh asked, snapping Dan out of his thoughts.

“Mhm.” Dan mumbled, still looking at Josh, head resting against his right hand.

“Oh really? Then what did I say?”

“That you were ready to tell me everything about your horrid relationship with James.”

“That’s not what I said.” Josh said, crossing his arms and squinting his eyes. “I said that I really appreciate you being here tonight. And that you were right about what you said in the car, you know, about needing to get things off my chest.”

Josh stood up and quickly cleared the table, returning to sit in front of Dan short after. He brought up his arms and started fiddling with his fingers, trying his best to avoid Dan’s gaze. He cleared his throat and closed his eyes before he began to speak.

“I’m going to tell you everything that happened between James and I in private. It’d be much appreciated if you’d let me tell you everything before you spoke, okay?” Josh asked as he opened his left eye, Dan made a zipper motion over his lips. The young man smiled before speaking. “I don’t think I should start from the beginning because you already obviously know because you were there. Uhm, okay, things started to go downhill when YMAS started to take off. I think he felt like I owed him an explanation for leaving for so long, and I didn’t think I owed him one- because well, he knew that I was in a band and that that was a top priority for me. Well, anyway, the night I got home from the, I think, from Warped 2010 in America he yelled at me as soon as I walked in the door. I thought he was joking so I yelled at him too. He slapped me. I got really angry because no motherfucker on this earth is going to lay a hand on me. I pushed him and yelled. He slapped me again then kicked me down. He kicked me and kicked me until I started bleeding from my mouth. He picked me up and carried me to our room. He threw me on our bed and started u-undressing me. He said something among the lines of ‘this will teach you who the real man in this house is’ and then he…” Josh paused, swallowing thickly. Dan reached across the table and put his hands over Josh’s. “He raped me Dan, he fucking raped me. I kept yelling at him to stop but he just put his hands around my throat and started choking me. He choked me for so long that I eventually passed out. All I could remember the next morning was everything hurting. I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t. I called for help, yelling practically, but no one showed up. It just got worse from that incident. He’d hit me for everything ‘wrong’ that I did. It got so bad, to the point where I was afraid to come home from tour.”

“J-Josh, why didn’t you ever tell us anything?” Dan asked, a bit choked up- from Josh telling him all those things he had to go through-, squeezing Josh’s hands with his own. “I could’ve fucking taken care of that son of a bitch.”

“That’s why. I didn’t want you guys worrying about me, I didn’t want any of you getting in trouble. I thought I could deal with him on my own. I was so wrong.”

“He could have fucking killed you Josh! Did you ever think of that? I’d be going crazy if that was you instead of him. Josh, why, why didn’t you tell me anything?”

“I’m sorry Dan.” Josh said, tears running down his face. “I-I just didn’t want you guys to worry about me. I’m nothing special, I don’t mean anything to anybody.”

“Are you seriously saying that?” Dan asked, eyebrows furrowed, squeezing Josh’s hands tighter. “If you were ‘nothing special’ then I don’t think we would still be friends right now. I wouldn’t have been by your side these two years. Josh, you are more than something special. You are Joshua Franceschi.”

Josh began to cry more intensely, making Dan stand up and walk to Josh. He helped the young man up and then wrapped their arms around other. Josh rested his head on Dan’s shoulder, letting the tears stain Dan’s jacket. The two stood there for several minutes before Josh said that he was tired and needed to go to sleep. Dan agreed it was time so he let Josh guide them to the room. They made their way up the stairs and into Josh’s room. Dan frowned when he remembered that he hadn’t brought any clothes to stay the night. Just when he was about to say something, a white t-shirt and black shorts were slung to his face. He smiled and thanked Josh for letting him borrow the clothes.

He saw the younger man disappear into the restroom. Dan took this as an opportunity and stripped his clothes. Quickly, he changed into the fresh clothes. Just as he was pulling the shorts on, Josh came out of the bathroom wearing nothing but red and black plaid pajama pants. He lifted the covers and laid down.

“Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to actually sleep?” Josh asked turning on his left side, as if to face the center of the bed.

Dan walked awkwardly from his position in the room to the bed. He laid down facing Josh and opened his arms. Josh smiled and dragged himself closer to Dan. He, then, wrapped his arms around him and smiled back at the young man. Josh’s eyes quickly flickered from Dan’s lips to his eyes. Dan oblivious to this, closed his eyes. The younger man took this as an opportunity to press his lips against Dan’s- after all, Dan was really Josh’s love interest, not the girl he had told him about earlier. As soon as he’d pressed his lips against Dan’s, he took them away, leaving the other very surprised.

“Thank you for being here with me tonight,” Josh said, closing his eyes and burrowing his head into Dan’s chest. “I love you Dan.”

Dan smiled and kissed Josh’s forehead before he closed his eyes.

“I love you too Joshua.”


	2. part two

The next morning, Dan woke up before Josh did- at least that’s what he thought. He smiled when he saw that their arms were still around each other, Josh’s head nestled in his chest.

His mind wandered to the kiss they shared last night. It may have been quick and subtle, but they both definitely felt it, and there was no denying it. He wondered what the cause of Josh’s sudden change in attitude was. Only a few minutes before, the man was in tears, traumatized by a relationship that had ended two years ago. What had changed Josh’s mood? What had pushed him to do that? And most importantly, why did Dan not kiss back? Sure we would have felt a bit guilty about it the next morning, but it felt so right.

“You are so beautiful. I really don’t think you understand,” Dan whispered, gently running a hand down the younger man’s back. “I don’t know how you can’t see that I am desperately in love with you. It hurts me to see that you’ve already found someone else, I feel jealous, but I also feel happy for you. I am happy that you’ve finally found someone you can trust and be comfortable around. I just wish that someone was me.”

Dan thought that he’d said that to a person who wouldn’t hear him, but he didn’t. Josh actually heard everything Dan said. He felt his stomach do weird flips. He wanted to open his eyes so that they could look into Dan’s. He wanted to cup the older man’s face and kiss him with more intensity than last night. He just wanted to tell Dan that he loved him too, and that he had for a long time, practically from the moment they met. But he couldn’t. He didn’t want to destroy a friendship that had taken so many years to build up. He didn’t want his heart broken again- though Dan would never even dream of doing such thing.

He sighed deeply before hugging Dan tightly. Dan responded by pulling Josh closer to him, kissing his forehead. The two young men drifted off into a peaceful sleep. Some time during Josh’s deep slumber, Dan decided that he was hungry. He got out of bed and went downstairs to make them both breakfast.

When Josh woke up for the second time, he stretched out. He frowned when he felt that he was able to do that- because Dan wasn’t next to him. A smile found its way to his lips quickly though- because he smelled Dan’s unmistakable eggs and bacon. He got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. He washed his face and dried it with his towel that hung next to the utilities closet. He walked back out to his room and towards his closet. He grabbed a white t-shirt and slipped it on. The young man crouched down and grabbed a couple of black slippers. He quickly slipped them on his feet and made his way downstairs. When he arrived at the kitchen, Dan seemed to be setting up the plates for the two of them, humming what Josh thought was their song Underdog. After he was done serving their two plates, Dan walked to the fridge. He opened it, and in turn, faced away from Josh. The young man took this chance and very quietly walked behind Dan.

“You know, you should have brought the two cups with you,” Josh said, making Dan gasp and take a step back, consequently stepping on Josh’s feet.

“Do you want to give me a fucking heart attack?” Dan asked, pushing past Josh.

“Oh come on, am I really that gorgeous? Am I so gorgeous that my beauty spills out and makes everyone-”

“Shut up, Josh.”

Josh closed his mouth and sat on the chair that was next to the small table. He brought his hands up to the surface of the table and started to fiddle with his fingers. He contemplated on whether or not he should confront Dan about his secret confession earlier. He swallowed thickly before he spoke up.

“Dan,” Josh said softly, catching the older man’s attention as he sat down in front of him. “Did you really mean what you said this morning? I-I didn’t mean to hear that, but I did, and I just wanted to know if you really meant it.”

Dan’s eyes widened, his mouth dropped open a bit, too. A sudden wave of panic swept through him. He didn’t mean for Josh to hear that. He didn’t want for Josh to hear that. At least, not yet. He searched his head for an excuse to say- he wasn’t ready to admit his undying love for the younger man, not yet- but he couldn’t find one. He had meant each and every word he said.

“Y-you heard that?” Dan asked, still trying to find something else to say. “I’m sorry Josh, it was a slip of tongue. I didn’t mean for you to hear that, well I did, just not yet.”

“I really appreciated the compliment though.”

“Is that all you heard?” he asked, trying to make eye contact with Josh.

“Yeah.”

— — —

For most of the following week, Josh felt very guilty. Guilty for not telling Dan everything he’d heard that morning. Every time Josh saw the older man, he got the urge to tell him that his compliment wasn’t all he’d heard. He wanted to tell Dan that he felt the same way that Dan felt about him.

Tonight, Josh thought it’d be a good idea to invite Dan over. He was contemplating on asking Dan to move in with him, or, rather, ask to move in with Dan. He preferred that it be the latter option because he wanted to begin a new life. He didn’t want to be constantly reminded of all the horrible nights he was forced to spend in this house. Now that James wasn’t here, he could sell the house. He could go away and resume his life.

Before he called Dan, he made sure to have everything set up for when he told Dan his true feelings- yes, Josh was going to tell the older man how he really felt towards him. He was planning to tell Dan that he was going to invite his love interest over because he’d already told ‘her’ how he really felt. He assumed Dan was going to ask when this ‘girl’ was going to show up and then he’d flash a mirror in front of Dan’s face. He’d be a bit confused at first, but after seeing the look on Josh’s face, he’d figure out what the younger man was trying to say. Yeah, it would work out perfectly; or at least he hoped so.

Josh took his phone from where it was sitting on the living room table. He quickly dialed Dan’s number and held the phone up to his ear. He tapped his foot on the floor as he waited for Dan to pick up. Josh choked a bit when the older man finally answered.

"Hey Josh, what’s up?" Dan asked.

"I was wondering if you could come over today," he replied, running a hand through his hair. "Remember that girl I told you about the other day? Well I finally got the guts to tell her how I felt and she’s coming over. I want you to be the first one to meet her because you’re my best friend."

"Uh, yeah, sure. When do you want me to be there?"

"Does four sound good?"

"Sure."

Josh sighed as the line clicked, he was getting really nervous about telling Dan his feelings. He began to think about his plan and realized it was way too complicated, more so than it needed to be, so he decided to just go ahead and tell him, just like any other person would. He scratched his head a bit, thinking about how Dan would react, good, he hoped.

The young man relaxed back onto his couch, rubbing his face with both of his hands. He exhaled slowly, as if to calm his nerves. He was about to close his eyes when there was a knock on the door. Josh bit his lip as he stood, walking to the door. Probably Dan, he thought. He smiled as he opened the door. Unfortunately his smile diminished when he saw who was behind the door, Samantha. Samantha was a girl he’d met a couple of weeks ago at therapy.

“I hope I’m not bothering you by coming here unannounced,” the girl said timidly. “I just needed to get out of my house, and I haven’t seen you in a while so I thought I’d come see you here.”

“It’s nice to see you here Samantha,” Josh said, opening the door a bit more so Samantha could walk inside. “How have you been doing?”

“I’ve been okay, just the same. What about you?”

The younger woman walked inside, walking to the living room. She sat down right as Josh started to reply.

“I’ve been alright, finally told someone else about the whole James deal, and honestly, it felt great.” he said, sitting on the couch facing her, running a hand through his hair.

“That’s great! How do you feel now?”

“I feel better, actually. I’m not going to visit him at the cem-”

Before Josh had the chance to finish his sentence, there was a knock at the door. He looked at his watch before standing up- it was four. He smiled at Samantha before walking to the door. Josh smiled widely when he saw it was Dan, immediately wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling him in closer.

“I hope I’m not late,” Dan said, rubbing Josh’s back as they hugged. “Is she here?”

“About that Dan I-”

“I was just leaving,” Samantha interrupted, walking up behind and patting his back. “We can talk later if you want, yeah?”

“Sure,” he replied, letting go of Dan to quickly hug Samantha.

Dan stepped aside to let her through, shooting Josh a confused glare. Josh waved at Samantha as she got in her car. The two watched as she backed out of the driveway, and into the street. Josh finally pulled Dan inside his home after they saw Samantha disappear out of the street.

“Who was that?” Dan asked, pulling his jacket off, and hanging it on the coat rack beside the door.

“That was Samantha,” Josh replied, leading Dan into the living room. “I met her at therapy a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve been good friends since. And no, she isn’t the one I told you about.”

“Then who is it?” the older man asked, stopping short of sitting on the couch. “That is why you invited me over, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I just don’t know how to say it, it makes me really nervous.”

“Don’t be nervous around me Josh, I’m your best friend, aren’t I?”

“Obviously, that’s exactly why. You make me really nervous. Whenever I’m around you, the room seems to be spinning, time goes by faster than I’d like it to. I- you know what I’m saying, right?”

“Actually no,” Dan admitted, crossing his arms in front of him, and cocking up an eyebrow. “You’re gonna have to explain everything you just said because I didn’t understand it one bit.”

“There is no girl Daniel,” Josh finally said, averting his gaze to the empty couch. “The girl is you. How-”

“What? But I’m not a girl? Last time I checked I had a pen-”

Josh shook his head and cupped Dan’s face with both his hands, pulling their faces within inches of each other. The young man flicked his gaze from Dan’s eyes to his lips back up to his eyes. He sighed deeply before pressing his lips to Dan’s. At first Dan’s eyes widened in surprise- he was really convinced that Josh had a girlfriend.

It was a few seconds before Josh pulled away, a small smile on his face. He scanned Dan’s face for the older man’s reaction, but he couldn’t find any. Josh was about to apologize when Dan grabbed his face and pulled him in for another kiss. This time, both men were participating in the kiss, twisting and turning their heads to get different angles.

“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear that.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [born in blood, i'm not like you.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3359702) by [protect_rosie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/protect_rosie/pseuds/protect_rosie)




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